This is really a question for USA members and as an Englishman i'm totally chuffed with our drawn group of England,Paraguay,Sweden and Trinidad-i'm sure we'll walk it-touch wood!!!USA have drawn Italy,Ghana,and Czech Republic and i would like to know how many of you guys in the USA will be following your team?Soccer(we call it football) is our national game in the UK and i've always been under the impression that it is a minority sport in the USA played and enjoyed by teenagers at college,although saying that the are a small number of Amercans playing in our top league.I am amazed considering this that the USA team is ranked in the worlds top ten nations although some detracters claim that you play easy opposition all the time !How do you guys fancy your chances next year and do you think you'd stand a chance if you bumped into England?

I worked on a film called Goal, and if I hadn't lived in a country that lived and breathed Soccer then I would have been put off the sport by the film . My sister, loves soccer, me its baseball all the way.

From looking at your personal profile you've thrown me Leone_Admirer-i took it that you are a born and bred Londoner!!What was this film called Goal (and you involvement)and how long have you been in the UK?

Oh I am a New Yorker stuck in a Londeners body . I'm just waiting till I can move over to the states and work on films there. (believe me it drives my family nuts). Goal is the first film in a planned trilogy (the second film is shooting now). It came out in September, I worked in the editing room for it. I got to go to see the cast and crew screening, which was the last time I go to see it, needless to say it wasn't my cup of tea

I read something by Hex about your involvement in film making but i had no idea you had got into it to such an extent (that explains your obscure (to me) top 10 movies-future director?-you must have lots of influences apart from Leone- i guess you know a whole lot more about directing than me-i know zilch really but am reasonable at telling whether a film is good or not!

You flatter me too much banjo , I'm a director in training, but at the moment I am an editor/editors assistant. I have done a mixture of Adverts and Indie films. I have been working in the industry since I was 15. My motto is to watch as many different films as possible which is why I have a pretty big DVD collection and am always trying to learn about the history of film. I am currently in prep on my first proffesional short which is a noir flick, harking back to my favourite era of the studio system and with noir directors such as Preminger, Fuller and Dassin to name a few of the directorial influences that have helped me shape the idea of the short.

Wow i feel pretty amazed by all that and regretfully i haven't heard of the noir directors you mention.If i ever manage to get it toghether and write up a half decent SW review i'm going to have to watch my P's and Q's with a future director reading them-and i feel guilty about pushing all that Sabata etc stuff on you now he,he.What sort of movie do you intend to make eventually?

Cinematic genres, noirs, westerns dramas etc. I'm in love with old Hollywood and I think audiences would like to see that re-interepreted (not by remakes but like Jacksons Kong or Polanski's Chinatown) I would love to do a Bond film. I wanna do an Woody Allen and shoto all my films in New York, except the westerns of course. Your comments about Sabata were very interesting, I liked the fact that I see two sides to a film and you never know, perhaps in the future I may re-evaluate it and like it (though I doubt it )

Cinematic genres, noirs, westerns dramas etc. I'm in love with old Hollywood and I think audiences would like to see that re-interepreted (not by remakes but like Jacksons Kong or Polanski's Chinatown) I would love to do a Bond film. I wanna do an Woody Allen and shoto all my films in New York, except the westerns of course. Your comments about Sabata were very interesting, I liked the fact that I see two sides to a film and you never know, perhaps in the future I may re-evaluate it and like it (though I doubt it )

Westerns,dramas,Bond films in the old style-you sound like my kinda guy!!!I not all that keen on all the endless effects laden movies we get served up which are indistinguishable from the computer games released with the films.Most of my favourite movies are pre-1980!I didn't know Polanski was remaking Chinatown but i've got some of his movies on tape which i like The Nth Gate,Rosemarys Baby,Frantic(i think thats Polanski) and i'm sure one or two others!

Oh no apolgies, hes not remaking China town I just meant that he is re-interpretation of noir fascinated me. This years films, my fave has been Clooneys Good Night And Good Luck whcih was a damn good drama and also the best night of my life (it was the closing night gala of the London Film Fest and at the after premiere party I got to chat to George, dance with the main actress Patricia Clarkson and talk to Colin Salmon who plays Robinson in the bond films, that was only a few of the people I met. The best blockbuster I saw this year was War of the Worlds because it tried to tell a story and used the effects to help it, not drown it.

I was tempted by War of the Worlds(fantastic HG Wells story!) despite being a remake of the fifties classic but i'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan though i respect his acting talents.Another problem i find with modern day Hollywood productions is the vomit-inducing OTT sentimentality at the end of these films (i assumed there'll be loads of this with Cruise in WOTW) which just doesn't happen in British movies.Hopefully WOTW will turn up on TV in the next year so i can give it a fair look then!I've completely forgotten this is a thread about next years World Cup Finals!!!